Don’t let your changing circumstances change you.

Ruth 1:19-20 – So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

Naomi had followed her husband to a land called Moab. There they hoped to avoid the famine that had come to Bethlehem. Unfortunately, all they experienced were hard times and loss. Naomi lost her boys and her husband. Life had dealt her a bitter blow.

Naomi traveled back to Bethlehem with her daughter in law Ruth. As they approached the city, her old friends gathered at the gates to invite her in. She saw the crowds of well wishers and was overwhelmed with the story she was destined to tell.

She told them to call her Mara (bitter) instead of Naomi (pleasant). For she thought the Lord had dealt bitterly with her. She had gone through bitterness and now she allowed her circumstances to name her. She lost her identity in her trial. Thankfully, the name never stuck.

Aren’t you thankful for friends that see the sum total of who you are and not just the chapter about your last circumstance?

We all are going to experience times of tribulation. However, I don’t have to lose my identity in my crisis. My destiny is much more powerful than the detour I may be on right now.

I’m not what I’ve come through.

Just because you’ve been divorced, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to find a lasting love.

Sure, your business venture may have failed but that doesn’t negate the fact that God put the entrepreneur in you. Your other business plans will be successful.

Somebody may have demeaned you and tried to destroy your confidence. You aren’t who they said you are. Who you are is a masterpiece shining underneath the dirt that was splattered on you by the voice of falsehood.